Entries tagged with: VampireWeekend

Vampire Weekend bandmember and producer Rostam Batmanglij will debut his first film score at The Sundance Film Festival in the drama Sound of My Voice, which was written and directed by his brother Zal Batmanglij.

The film, which according to Pitchfork (via Playlist) centers on a couple of cult-infiltrators in California, is Zal's first feature-length production. While little else is known about this indie, Rostam's involvement could mean a soundtrack release.

Though I don't know about the soundtrack release, much more is known this film now - since that was written in January 2011, and the film has not only screened at Sundance, but at SXSW too (and probably other places).

Thank you for your interest in purchasing tickets to the MoMA Armory Party. Tickets are no longer being sold online. You may purchase tickets on March 7th in person at The Armory Show (Pier 94 or Pier 92) or at the door of the event at MoMA starting at 8:00PM. Tickets may sell out and are first come first serve.

Tickets are also still on sale for Neon Indian's upcoming show at Terminal 5. All dates HERE.

Neon Indian's Alan Palomo recently hooked up with Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend), Vijay Iyer (Vijay Iyer Trio), Ashok Kondabolu (Das Racist), Alan Palomo (Neon Indian), Amrit Singh (Stereogum), Himanshu Suri (Das Racist), and Anand Wilder (Yeasayer) to go on a hunt for good South Indian food in NYC. Their "Dosa Hunt" has been made into a film produced by Amrit. You can watch the trailer below....

The 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival returns to Chicago's Union Park Friday, July 13 - Sunday, July 15! Seven years in, this independently run three-day event has consistently proven to be one of the most welcoming, comfortable, reasonably priced and rewarding weekends of music around.

A tremendously focused and thoughtfully curated event, the Pitchfork Music Festival has historically introduced emerging bands while also honoring a great number of already beloved and internationally renowned acts. This year continues with that high standard and welcomes Vampire Weekend, Feist, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Hot Chip, AraabMUZIK, A$AP Rocky, The Field, Liturgy, Kendrick Lamar, Grimes, Cloud Nothings, Tim Hecker, and Willis Earl Beal! But this is only the beginning! There are more than 30 acts to still be announced.

Additionally, we are excited to announce that the Pitchfork Music Festival will not be raising ticket prices in 2012! Our goal has always been to create an affordable atmosphere with music at its focus, and do so in a way that is sustainable and exciting. So why raise ticket prices if you don't need to, right? Tickets for the 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival go on sale Friday, March 9 at 12 PM CST, with single-day tickets for $45 and a limited number of three-day passes for $110! Based on years past, three-day passes will sell out very quickly. Tickets will be available on the festival website.

In addition to its musical offerings, the Pitchfork Music Festival also features a wide array of other activities for its 50,000 attendees of all ages from 45 states and 26 countries to easily enjoy. With 50 individual vendors, as well as specialty fairs, the fest not only supports local businesses and economy, but also promotes the Chicago arts community as a whole.

As predicted, Rostam Batmanglij from Vampire Weekend and Das Racist's Heems were both surprise guests at Small Black's mixtape release celebration at Glassands on 11/18 with Heavenly Beat. Download your copy of Small Black's Moon Killer FREE mixtape at their site. Check out Das Racist on Conan O'Brien tonight (11/28).

"Model Ann Kirsten Kennis asked a federal court in Los Angeles to dismiss the case, after she reached a settlement with Vampire Weekend and its label, XL Records. Details of the settlement were not disclosed. The case was dismissed yesterday by court order.

Kennis sued in 2010 after photographer Tod Brody licensed a Polaroid image of Kennis for use on the cover of the band's Contra album. The band also used the image to promote its Contra tour.

Brody allegedly provided the image--which was shot in the 1980s-- to Vampire Weekend with a forged model release. According to court papers, he was paid $5,000 for the image license. It is unclear who shot the image, or how Brody obtained it." [Photo District News] (via)

The article goes on to say that the case between Vampire Weekend the photographer is still open.

"It is with heavy, heavy heart that we regret to inform you that the inaugural MTK: Music To Know Festival in East Hampton will not take place. Despite our unique vision and arranging a world-class line-up, ticket sales were not adequate to allow the event to continue. We wanted to let everyone know now before engaging more deeply.

Along with our ticket holders, vendors, sponsors, business associates, colleagues and friends in the community, we too are filled with deep disappointment. We pledge to endure during this difficult time with the same integrity and professionalism displayed throughout the creation of this event.

As mentioned, Music to Know Fest makes its debut in East Hampton, NY over the weekend of August 13-14, and features artists such as Vampire Weekend, Bright Eyes, Matt & Kim, Ra Ra Riot, Dawes, and others. Set times have been announced for the festival, which you can check out below.

MTK, not to be confused with Escape to NY, have also teamed up with MTA Long Island Railroad (LIRR) to add an official westbound train for concertgoers:

The train, departing from the LIRR East Hampton station at 10:56 PM, is aptly timed to ensure concert goers will have sufficient time to enjoy the day's line-up and festivities and will be making all the local stops on Long Island into Brooklyn and Manhattan.

For more fun, you can download the official MTK 2011 App for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad at the iTunes app store. The fest also features fashion tents. According to a press release:

The fashion pop-up tents will be set up in a "retail village" and the merchants are anything but your average festival brands. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were first to purchase pop-ups from MTK: Music To Know - planning to debut their much-anticipated website StyleMint and their successful contemporary line Elizabeth & James to the crowd of almost 10,000 people gathered at the event in the Hamptons during the height of the season.

Hmmm... Tickets for the festival are still available. Set times and a list of the clothing brands that will be on display at the fest below...

MTK: Music To Know Festival announces its inaugural line up headlined by Vampire Weekend on Saturday, August 13th and Bright Eyes on Sunday, August 14th. Other confirmed bands include Matt & Kim, Cold War Kids, Chromeo, Tame Impala, Ra Ra Riot, Fitz & The Tantrums, Tom Tom Club, Dawes, M Ward, We Are Scientists, The Limousines, Naked and Famous, Francis and the Lights, Suddyn, Nicos Gun and Young Empires -- 18 of today's most critically-acclaimed and successful new, emerging and well-known bands. The music begins at noon each day, ending at 10PM.

According to Co-Founder Chris Jones "The Hamptons are a unique market to say the least -- full of decision makers, trend setters, and taste generators who have always been eager to embrace the best and the brightest in our culture -- whether that is in literature, film, fashion or music. We are excited to bring this collection of artists together in our community, and hope this is the first of many annual events."

Cheesy marketing and opinions of the ritzy location and potential crowd aside, I have to say that MTK did a pretty kick-ass job of curating a relevant indie rock lineup for an East Hampton crowd (filled with bands that do a good job of moving tickets, relatively speaking). Tickets are on sale now. Two-day passes start at $195 each+fees+parking if you need it. VIP tix will cost you much more.

Without knowing how willing people are to travel to the Hamptons, how many people are already in the Hamptons, and how many tickets they need to sell (possibly only "9,500 people over both days"), it's hard to guess how successful the fest will be (from a business/longevity point of view) (Bing is a sponsor so that probably helps), but it definitely beat expectations so far (relatively speaking). More details below...

Vampire Weekend's last release was an Apple iTunes session (recorded this past September at New York's Avatar Studios... "It includes a completely reworked rocksteady version of their hit "Holiday", plus "A-Punk", "Cousins" and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa". The session also includes two covers: Bruce Springsteen's "I'm Going Down" and The Honeycombs' "Have I The Right". Three horn players joined the band for the sessions".).

Monday, March 07, 2011 at 7:00 PM: "Alela Diane & Wild Divine in a live charity performance for Housing Works. Special preview show of her new album and band Alela Diane & Wild Divine (produced by Scott Litt) out on Rough Trade 4/5."

That's a picture of Alela Diane's new album above. More about it below....

""This festival is super-cool," said Strokes singer Julian Casablancas from the stage at Austin City Limits on Friday night. "Lotta stuff." It's true: The festival, now in its ninth year, packs 130 bands onto eight outdoor stages arranged around the 350-acre Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. The lineup is a mix of huge rock acts (the Eagles headline Sunday) and big-name indie bands, plus DJs, country singers and the occasional rapper. With an expected attendance of around 70,000 a day, the festival similar in size, if not in spirit, to Lollapalooza. "Lollapalooza has that city energy. It's like the hot girl you want to take home," one organizer, Lisa Hickey, said. "ACL is more laid-back -- it's like your best friend." And unlike South By Southwest, the music and film showcase that takes over the Texas town every spring, ACL doesn't have much of a music-industry angle -- it's almost strictly for fans.

On Friday night, the packed lineup presented the crowd with a happy problem: Four big-name guitar bands -- Spoon, Sonic Youth, Vampire Weekend, and the Strokes -- all had sets starting within two hours of each other, and seeing each set in its entirety was impossible."
[Rolling Stone]

Of those big four, Tim managed to catch three, and a bit of Vampire Weekend's favorite band Phish from afar. Phish's set included a Velvet Underground and a Talking Heads cover. Full setlist at the end of this post.

Kings Go Forth pictures are HERE. The rest of the pictures from the first day of the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival (where Ezra Koenig joined Miike Snow on stage), continue, with a bunch of setlists (including Spoon's which points out that Eleanor Friedberger played a Fiery Furnaces song with Spoon) (video proof too), below...

While the popped-collar-and-boat-shoe crew was being honored in one part of town, they were filling the hallowed halls of Radio City Music Hall with their African-inspired rhythms last night (9/15) as part one of a three night stay at the venue which continues tonight 9/16, and tomorrow, 9/17. Dum Dum Girls and Beach House had their backs last night, as they will for the next two. Tickets are still available to tonight's show.

In other news, Ezra of Vampire Weekend appears on a new iTunes-only track by Chromeofrom their out-now Business Casual LP. Stream that track under the rest of the Radio City pictures, below.

"Vampire Weekend's Tomson is upfront about his jam band days but protects the identities of others. "I don't want to out anybody," he says.

But [Real Estate's Alex] Bleeker sees greater acceptance on the horizon. It will be a vibe-heavy, groovy new world, where nobody will be ashamed to let their songs soar past the seven-minute mark. "I don't want 'jam band' to be a dirty word in the indie-rock community anymore," he says." [Washington Post]

Ra Ra Riot will be making even more appearances in NYC in the coming month. The Syracuse band's onslaught begins on August 24th (Tuesday) when the band celebrates the release of it's new LP The Orchard (via Barsuk) with a FREE acoustic set at Soundfix Records at 6PM. Later that night, the band will be at a second FREE event, a 21+ DJ party at Brooklyn Bowl featuring the band and Vampire Weekend swapping turns on the wheels of steel (neither band is scheduled to play live music).

Less than one month after the band blesses NYC with those gratis events, Ra Ra Riot will play a two night stint at Bowery Ballroom (on 9/21 and 9/22) followed by another two night stint at MHOW (on 9/23 and 9/24). 9/21's support at Bowery has yet to be announced (tickets), but 9/22 at Bowery will feature Lower Dens (tickets), 9/23 at MHOW will feature North Highlands and We Barbarians (tickets), and 9/24 at MHOW will feature Amanaguchi (tickets). If each date will have two openers, then there's still a lot to be announced too.

As previously mentioned, the dates are part of a much larger tour that will see Ra Ra Riot play from sea to shining sea (and Bumbershoot) as part of a full US campaign towards total da-da-domination.

As you probably know, Vampire Weekend's record label XL Recordings is being sued along with the band and a photographer for the use of a photo on the cover of Vampire Weekend's new album Contra. The label just issued the following statement:

"As is standard practice, Vampire Weekend and XL Recordings licensed the rights to use the photo on the cover of Contra pursuant to a license agreement that contains representations and warranties authorizing this use of the photo. Now that a lawsuit has been filed, we look forward to having the matter resolved in Court. We will be filing our response after we have had an opportunity to review the allegations. Consistent with our practice, we will not be commenting further about the pending litigation at this time."

You may have heard by now that Vampire Weekend, XL Recordings and a photographer named Tod Brody are being sued for 2 million dollars by Contra cover model Kirsten Kennis. She claims that she never gave permission for them to use a picture that was taken of her in 1983 (back when she was actually a model), and that the photographer basically tricked the band and label into thinking they were buying it legally. She says the band and label are also at fault for not doing due diligence when they paid $5000 for the picture from Tod. She thinks she deserves 2 million because her picture was obviously the reason the band's album was so successful... That's basically the info that most sites are posting, but I obtained a copy of the court documents and there's more...

First of all, her full name is Ann Kirsten Kennis, though when she was a model she just went by "Kirsten". She was a "high-fashion model under contract with prestigious agencies in New York City" in the 80's and early 90's. Her picture has appeared in clothing, jewelry, cosmetics and automobile ads, and for that she was "highly compensated" and "enjoyed numerous assignments".

She lives in Fairfield, CT, and most interestingly, she claims Tod didn't even take the picture. Her real last name doesn't even appear in the contract Vampire Weekend signed when they bought it. The allegedly forged/fake contract is with "Kirsten Johnsen" and signed by "Kirsten Johnson" (yes, the document has the last name spelled two different ways).

If Tod didn't take the picture, I'm not sure how he thought he would get away with it since she would obviously eventually see it. Whether he took it or not, it's still displayed in his portfolio (with "kirsten" in the file name), though his page that displayed the Vampire Weekend album cover is now gone.

"At the sold-out Sasquatch, bands holding down the headliner spots haven't necessarily turned out to be the biggest draws. Sure, My Morning Jacket played to a mostly packed house on Saturday, and Massive Attack was overwhelmingly solid on Sunday despite a not-so-full amphitheater floor, but the band drawing the most populous, most stoked, most deserved gathering was unquestionably Vampire Weekend." [SPIN]

Pictures of Vampire Weekend, My Morning Jacket, and the rest of Day One of this year's Sasquatch Festival (which just went down over Memorial Day Weekend), below...

"Conan O'Brien brought The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour to Radio City Music Hall Tuesday night for the first of two performances. By far, the evening's highlight was the surprise appearance of Stephen Colbert, who came out onstage to rib O'Brien for leaving New York to do The Tonight Show in Hollywood...

...Their verbal tiff quickly escalated: "We're at Radio City, there's only one possible way to fight here," Colbert said with his face literally in O'Brien's face. "Anything that gets us to separate our noses and lips," O'Brien answered. "How about a good old-fashioned dance-off?" Colbert suggested. Cue "Pour Some Sugar on Me."

I would say Colbert was winning until he ruptured his hamstring. He was about to admit defeat when -- "Don't you dare, Stephen Colbert! Don't you dare! Don't you dare!" It was the voice of Jon Stewart booming from the back of the theater. (Even those of us in the last row of the second mezzanine who couldn't see him knew it immediately.) Stewart walked down an aisle to the stage -- wearing a red satin shirt, black pants, and a gold cummerbund -- as the audience exploded into a standing ovation. The fan reaction caught on the video says it best: "Holy f--ing s--!"... [EW]

Conan O'Brien was also joined by Vampire Weekend (good practice), Paul Rudd, and Bill Hadar at last night's show which was opened by Reggie Watts. Conan encouraged audience members to live tweet the show. Videos, including of the Colbert part, below...

After that, Dum Dum Girls go on tour with Beach House and Vampire Weekend beginning in the end of August. That includes the three-night Radio City run. Both bands open on all three days from September 15th-September 17th. Tickets for all of those are still on sale. All dates listed below.

You can download two Dum Dum Girls songs - (via their label Sub Pop, "the first, 'Bhang, Bhang, I'm a Burnout,' is the second song from their Sub Pop debut, I Will Be...the second is 'Pay for Me,' which was previously only available on their Record Store Day split with Male Bonding") - here. You can download two more above.

Dum Dum Girls playing "Bhang Bhang" live, other videos, plus all Dum Dum Girls & Beach House tour dates (including the stops on DDG's current European tour), are below...

"The Austin City Limits Music Festival began as a modest, two-day event and now, as it enters it's 9th year, has become a perennial American music experience. Taking place at the heart of Austin, Texas in the legendary Zilker Park, ACL Festival has grown to 3 days, 8 stages and over 130 bands."